Solar power may be used to produce electricity by using mirrors to concentrate solar radiation on one or more receivers. In some examples, the sunlight heats a fluid in the receivers, producing a high pressure gas either directly by boiling the fluid, or indirectly by running the heated fluid through one or more heat exchangers to produce a high pressure gas, such as steam. The gas turns one or more turbines which power electrical generators. In other examples, the receiver includes one or more photovoltaic devices that absorb concentrated sunlight and directly generate electricity.
The efficiency of such arrangements can be improved by precisely characterizing surfaces including optical surfaces such as mirrors, support surfaces such as the frames or platforms on which mirrors are mounted or ribs that support the mirrors, and manufacturing surfaces such as tables or molds used to form curved mirrors. Precisely characterizing such surfaces permits the optical performance of the devices to be accurately modeled, thereby improving the accuracy with which solar radiation is reflected onto the receivers.